In honor of  International Labor Day, and in solidarity with the Immigrants Rights Rallies today, let me share some thoughts about immigration reform.

The fundamental problem with our immigration laws is, as many say, that they are selectively enforced; punitively and tragically for those workers who are caught, and usually, not at all for the employers.  The laws encourage clandestine immigration and work.  The current laws value immigrants as cheap slave labor, frightened to speak up about poor working conditions, but not as intrinsically valuable human beings.

Here's my idea on immigration reform.  If persons are valuable enough to be employed, hire them, and then give them green cards if they don't already have them. Treat all workers with the same respect, and afford them the same rights.  Enforcement would consist of monitoring employers to make sure that all workers had the proper papers.  If they did not, it is the responsibility of the employer to obtain them.

If the responsibility is on the part of the employer to obtain green cards for their workers, they will think carefully when they hire, both because of the hassle of obtaining the papers, and the public opinion about hiring local workers first.  They will be more inclined to hire a worker who is already in this country, even if that worker seems overqualified.  American workers who have been displaced by the off-shoring of jobs, such as software developers are seeking jobs in manufacturing, service and retail that are being given to immigrants instead.  If American workers are not being turned away from these jobs, and a true need for immigrant labor exists, there should be no objection to hiring immigrants, and recognizing their basic humanity.

Yes, we have immigration laws, and they are arbitrary and unjust, and lead to the exploitation of human beings on both sides of the border.  Let's change the laws and their enforcement to something both the economy and human beings can live with.